December 19, 2011

The N.C. Highway Patrol believes alcohol was a factor in a Sunday crash that killed a Maiden woman on N.C. 16 South.

Thelma Jean Chappell, 47, of Maiden, died when the 1999 Ford Explorer she was riding in veered into the median on N.C. 16 and overturned in the area of N.C. 150, said K.E. Travis, a trooper with the highway patrol.

Thomas Ray Klutz, 42, of Conover, was driving the vehicle. Travis said he charged Klutz with driving while impaired and reckless driving.

December 19, 2011

Boyd Hawn Drum served Midstate Mills as president and chairman of the board of directors from the early 1980s until 2007, said Steve Arndt, the company's vice president and chief marketing officer. Drum was 77.

Drum's father, G.D., founded the company that became Midstate Mills in Maiden in 1935. The company moved to Newton in 1961.

Drum's son, Robert, currently serves as Midstate Mills' corporate president and chairman of the board of directors.

Officers say 36-year-old Irecas Valentine of Hickory sped away, wrecked his sports utility vehicle and threatened when he was cornered by Bumgarner. Valentine was shot and taken to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem in critical condition.